It's clear that Seth Godin and
me inhabit two different universes. Him: best-selling author, major
business builder and frequently original marketing thinker. Me:
moderately-selling author (and yes, actually we both share Penguin I
believe), growing business builder and sometimes original marketing
thinker.

Donations to worthy causes are fine - and at my company Talking Brand we regularly donate to three charities - but this week marked the beginning of a whole new approach to lending a helping hand.

You know how it feels when you get the idea of the perfect present for someone you care about, find it, and then give it to them...and they just love it too? When their face has that delighted, almost childish thrill - and not that awkward 'oh, fuck, I hate this but I have to be polite now' look?

Warning: possible rant factor. Sometimes I think that medical services business have forgotten they’re actually businesses. While their patients are patients, we’re also their customers – and we can walk away.

Look to the right and you’ll see my foot. In a retard boot. It’s fractured, and it hurts, and it’s the subject of today’s whinge highly considered post about

Human Workplace CEO and founder Liz Ryan has lots of good advice in this recent post on LinkedIn Today – but seriously, this personal branding malarkey has gotta stop right now.

In case you didn’t know, Liz Ryan is the founder of a business called Human Workplace, and much what they stand for is just great. In essence, the business is a think tank, consulting firm, search firm and

"What are we doing to drive people to our places?" asks Rob Spanier, from the Canadian firm LiveWorkLearnPlay. He goes on to present the power of markets to generate local business: their data shows that typically 60-80% of neighbouring businesses report higher sales with the presence of a farmers market, and that while 800 people are generally needed to support one it can also drive several thousand visitors in a season.

The sharing economy - or as some people describe it, the collaborative consumption economy - is big business. And as the ins and outs of AirBnB and CouchSurfing and Kickstarter are best left to those who have a need to use them, I'll content myself here with a few stats that give you an idea of just how big that business is - or is going to be.

First, a definition: The sharing economy is about monetising the surplus value of the things you own by giving others access. (Or put another way, collaboratively recirculating the dormant use of assets, facilities or skills, for money.) It's a highly disruptive economic proposition that's

I've been listening to Columbia Department of Planning's Kimberley Driggens give example after example of art and culture 'temporiums'. The point, is that they have all helped, as she describes it, "build a constituency for your plan".

Example 1

With a department of planning grant, 34 crafters and artists came together to serve 800 people in the first hour, and generate $31,000 in sales in 24 consecutive days.

Example 2

As one of four art and culture temporiums launched last summer, focused on four different communities, Lumen8 Anacostia used a